About three-quarters of social workers regularly work more hours than they are paid for, and believe they are inadequately trained for their job the Local Government Pay Commission heard this week.

Three surveys carried out by public sector union Unison in March to support its submissions to the commission reveal that more than 80 per cent of social workers, senior care workers, home care workers and residential care assistants and three-quarters of residential social workers believe their rate of pay is unfair.

Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "They are all underpaid, they are all undervalued, there are massive recruitment and retention problems, yet they are all key to delivering critical parts of the government’s agenda."

The survey of social workers finds that three-quarters believe their job has become more difficult since Labour came into office, and three in 10 expect to be with a new employer within two years.

Higher basic pay levels and an end to unequal pay - requested by 83 and 50 per cent of the 400 respondents respectively - are the main issues social workers want to stress to the commission, with almost two-thirds arguing that pay discourages people from joining the profession.

Unison believes the most distressing part of the submission is the survey of home care assistants. Although their role has shifted significantly from delivering low-level domestic functions towards providing personal and nursing care, this has not been reflected in their pay.

More than two-thirds of home care workers say their employers don’t understand the needs and demands of the job, and split shifts and irregular rotas are commonplace.

Wakefield predicts a crisis if this issue is not addressed shortly, as staff are lured to retail or service sector jobs, offering better pay and less stress.

Residential care workers share the view that employers have no idea about the exacting demands of their work. Four in five residential social workers have experienced violence or abuse in the past year.

Home care workers and residential staff are seeking higher basic pay and better unsociable hours allowances. Home care workers are also calling for their job title to be changed to reflect their role.

The commission, which was set up as part of the pay settlement between employers and unions last September, will now consider evidence and report in September.